IDC said Q2 equated to a "general reprieve" for desktop rigs, but said the upturn was evident in Western economies, as sales declined in emerging markets, "particularly China". This highlights the continued trend of portability and the "narrowing performance gap" with notebooks.

Monitors used for gaming, the boon that vendors clung to in choppier waters, continued to "outpace" both desk-based and portable gaming hardware.

So what does the rest of the year potentially hold for the gaming PC sector? Desktops, notebooks and monitors are forecast to reach 42.8 million units worldwide, up 9.6 per cent on 2018.

Further afield, IDC reckons the market will hit 55.2 million by 2023, but given that analysts have trouble forecasting in the current climate of uncertainty, a betting person wouldn't wager their house on this figure. ®